Develop Bugs

Well and truly bricked - desperate

Hi all,
I desperate need help. After an unsuccessful radio flash, my Desire won't even turn on. No response from any buttons or lights. Here's how it happened:
I'm relatively new to Android. I recently bought a Desire, to replace my Touch HD, which has seen about 25 different WM ROMs, over it's life.
I successfully rooted my Desire and had tried a few ROMs. I was sitting on the MoDaCo Custom ROM r17, which was all customised and running perfectly. I'd even used ADB to successfully update my wifi config to connect to my company LEAP-authenticated network.
I decided to flash the latest radio (32.37.00.32U_4.06.00.16_2), from this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=687464
I entered Recovery using 'Fake-Flash';
I started flashing the radio image;
All the good messages were scrolling down the screen;
I kept one eye on the phone while I worked on my laptop;
I saw a message saying something to the effect of "Finished installing radio..." (sorry, I don't remember the exact wording);
The blue recovery menu had returned, with 'reboot device' as the default selection;
As I clicked the trackball, I saw another message appear under the 'finished' messages, which said "Writing rad " I guess it didn't have time to print the whole message, when I selected reboot.
The screen went blank then a graphic appeared in the middle (where the recovery exclamation mark and triangle usually appear), of a software box with a curved yellow arrow over it and the android icon peeking out from behind it. I left it for a while (already had that sinking feeling) then pressed the power button. It switched off and stayed there.
Since then, nothing that I've tried has received any response. Various combination's of button pushes, USB connection, removed SIM, SD and battery...nothing, not even an LED.
I've searched and haven't been able to find any solutions to this particular situation. Can anyone help, or am I totally bricked?
Regards, PF.

The radio update does 2 reboots to install it. The software box with yellow arrow is the default graphic used by the fake flash recovery as far as I know so that wasn't any real problem.
I know this might sound silly, but is the battery charged?

socktug said:
The radio update does 2 reboots to install it. The software box with yellow arrow is the default graphic used by the fake flash recovery as far as I know so that wasn't any real problem.
I know this might sound silly, but is the battery charged?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No question is silly under this circumstance!
Yes. I'd just taken it off overnight charge. 100%. If I plug the USB cable in now, there is no response from the LED.

Leave the charger plugged into it for about 5 minutes and see if there is any response to it. With the usb bricks it would take nearly 5 mins to register and the led to light up.
I know this isn't a usb brick, but I've not seen anyone with a failed radio flash that has caused the phone to totally die to the extent that it won't even switch on.
I take it you have tried the usual power and volume button combos etc?
I suppose if there is no quick fix for this, the fact that it's totally dead may go in your favour if you try to get it repaired/replaced under warranty

socktug said:
Leave the charger plugged into it for about 5 minutes and see if there is any response to it. With the usb bricks it would take nearly 5 mins to register and the led to light up.
I know this isn't a usb brick, but I've not seen anyone with a failed radio flash that has caused the phone to totally die to the extent that it won't even switch on.
I take it you have tried the usual power and volume button combos etc?
I suppose if there is no quick fix for this, the fact that it's totally dead may go in your favour if you try to get it repaired/replaced under warranty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok. The charger has been plugged in for 35 minutes and still no response.

Also don't want to sound patronizing, but have you taken the battery out and turned on with the back button helld?
Ignore me, just reread your original post.

the procedure u said sounds rite, thats whats ment to happen, when you flash a radio, only other thing that comes to mind is, sure the radio u flashed was for the gsm desire?

so what youre saying is that your phone simply doesnt turn on, not for a second?
if you press the power button NOTHING happens?
are you sure your charger isnt broken?
have you tried charging it through your pc?
have you seen if its recognised through adb devices on your computer?
have you tried a new battery?
if your phone is simply dead, it must be a hardware problem, in which case you can probably send it off for repair and not have your warranty void as the whole phone will need to be replaced. they cant identify if you have voided your warranty if your device doesnt turn on.

cgrec92 said:
so what youre saying is that your phone simply doesnt turn on, not for a second?
if you press the power button NOTHING happens?
are you sure your charger isnt broken?
have you tried charging it through your pc?
have you seen if its recognised through adb devices on your computer?
have you tried a new battery?
if your phone is simply dead, it must be a hardware problem, in which case you can probably send it off for repair and not have your warranty void as the whole phone will need to be replaced. they cant identify if you have voided your warranty if your device doesnt turn on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right first time. It won't turn on at all. It doesn't react in any way to any of the button combinations I'm aware of from rooting and flashing it. Nothing happens at all.
I live in an HTC household, so I've tried a number of chargers and cables, including the PC's USB port. I haven't tried another battery...but the incumbent battery was holdng a good charge and was 100% at the time. What's more, I remember that the phone can run on the charger without the battery.
Not surprisingly, adb devices shows no connected devices.
I think everyone is right, it's back to HTC. I *hope* you're right that they cover it under warranty. I'm going on the weekend, so I'll let you all know the result.
Thanks to all for your help.

I think you can try to remove battery, leave the phone with no battery for 30 minutes and then try to insert battery and connect to usb without power it on to check if LED (and than the phone) is revived.
I had an Acer Liquid that gave me same problem, pratically when a flash on the radio go wrong, the device go in "protection mode". You must also check on the net if there is a protection mode on Desire too, and if there is a button combination to unlock it. I repeat: i just giving an idea becouse the same problem happened for me on an Acer Liquid, so i'm not sure if it's the same for the Desire.
Good Luck

Maybe a usb brick? No usb is no charging. So when you didn't had a full battery, it may be went wrong on that.
Try another battery, if you can get to one.

peewster said:
Maybe a usb brick? No usb is no charging. So when you didn't had a full battery, it may be went wrong on that.
Try another battery, if you can get to one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the usb brick situation you can still charge. This isn't it!

socktug said:
In the usb brick situation you can still charge. This isn't it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok i didn't know that.

If the phone doesn't turn on at all, you can maybe try sending it back to the shop for replacement. Chances are, they won't be able to know what happened, so you can pretend it just stopped working.
If it gets back to HTC, they probably won't bother to figure out what's wrong with the phone and just give you a replacement. Otherwise, they'll just send you the phone back and you won't have lost much (maybe postage costs?).

ash1684 said:
I think you can try to remove battery, leave the phone with no battery for 30 minutes and then try to insert battery and connect to usb without power it on to check if LED (and than the phone) is revived.
I had an Acer Liquid that gave me same problem, pratically when a flash on the radio go wrong, the device go in "protection mode". You must also check on the net if there is a protection mode on Desire too, and if there is a button combination to unlock it. I repeat: i just giving an idea becouse the same problem happened for me on an Acer Liquid, so i'm not sure if it's the same for the Desire.
Good Luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion. I left the battery out overnight. Then tried to activate it (all the usual button combos) with:
Battery out, USB cable plugged in;
Battery in, USB unplugged;
Battery in, USB in.
I scoured the 'net for anything on protection mode for the Desire...no luck. If there is one, it hasn't been posted yet.

I would just act stupid and try to return it under warranty!

I think it should be ok to RMA this, if its completely bricked there is no way of them knowing that you tried a different radio.

Umbrella Corp. said:
I think it should be ok to RMA this, if its completely bricked there is no way of them knowing that you tried a different radio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, if it's totally bricked then just send it back to HTC and they will change it with no problems just same as acer done with my Liquid

All's well that ends well
Good news...
The HTC service centre were kind enough to replace my 'faulty' handset.
Re-flashed with r19 and radio updated (patiently) successfully.
Thanks all for your support.

Nice one. Glad it worked out for you

[Q] Flashed Caulkin's_format_all.zip, will not turn on

I had flashed Caulkin's_format_all.zip and I managed to accidentally reboot my phone before flashing a rom or anything. The phone will not power on, and if I plug it in, the charge indicator will not turn on. I've already tried pulling the batt for 5 minutes with no luck. any suggestions?

I did this once by being too quick at pushing the power button , I was able to reboot into recovery by pushing volume down and power button and then install a backup or you could flash rom. Hope this helps.

problem is, I can't even get it to boot, be it normal boot or bootloader.

If you hook it up to the computer, is it recognized?

Your going to have to borrow someones battery. I've seen people with this problem and for some reason, your phone won't recognize your battery and since it won't it won't charge it. Trust me, stick in a different battery and you will boot right up.

I've tried using my sprint extended life batt and the stock htc batt. neither worked.

and pc won't even recognize it.

spalding1028 said:
I've tried using my sprint extended life batt and the stock htc batt. neither worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So 100% sure that both batteries you've tried have a charge on them? And still no led when plugged in, to computer or wall? That sucks, because it sounds like it got bricked, somehow. I have also accidentally booted after flashing calk's format all from hitting the power button too quick, and as the other guy said, I was able to get to the bootloader by voldown+power, and restore a nandroid. I don't know what went differently in your case, but if you're positive that the batteries you've tried are good and charged, and you get no power led plugged into the wall, then it does sound like you somehow got a brick? Did you try leaving it plugged in for some time? A couple hours maybe, just to see if the led comes on?

Also make sure you are using a wall charger, I know if my battery charge is too low or dead the usb on my computer won't work, I then have to use the wall charger. The led will flash at first before starting to charge. When led is flashing phone won't turn on.
Edit:I just saw wall charging mentioned in previous post. I guess it shows the importance of it

I haven't tried leaving it plugged in. doing that now.

so I took it into the sprint store today and even the techs couldnt figure it out. I've got a replacement on the way. thanks for your suggestions guys!

spalding1028 said:
so I took it into the sprint store today and even the techs couldnt figure it out. I've got a replacement on the way. thanks for your suggestions guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i guess that may be a way of doing it. Completely break the phone if something goes wrong during root

hmmm.... weird.... your phone decided it had enough flashing apparently
First ive seen of a phone completely bricked that wasn't during a radio update.

wet phone = dead phone

So Wednesday my wife dropped my Xperia Play (r800x) in a vat of chicken broth. She did NOT turn it off but she put it in a bag of Rice. About 3 hours later I found out about it and immediately pulled the battery and put it back in the bag. (4:00 PM July 3)
12:00 PM July 5. I take the phone out of the rice bag. Using alcohol pads I lovingly clean all exposed surfaces of the phone and squeeze some in to each button and press it multiple times to clean out any remaining gunk.
After doing this and letting it sit for 5 minutes to let the alcohol evaporate, I put the battery back in and pressed the power button. 1 short vibration and then NOTHING.
I connected it to my PC via flashtool and re-flashed the stock firmware disconnected and powered on. 1 short vibration and then nothing.
I connected to the SE update service and was told that I had modified software and it couldn't install. So I connected back to flashtool and relocked my bootloader. Connected back to SE update service and was told I had the latest software so I used it to RE-install. Powered on phone and Voila! short vibration followed by nothing. This is where I stand now.
It would appear that I can boot in to both flashtool AND fastboot, but I cannot power on the phone.
No LED's are lit when I press the power button nor when I plug it in.
I do however have a green LED in flash mode and a blue one in Fastboot.
If I don't boot to one of those and connect to my computer it is recognized as a sony media device. after a few minutes the device disconnects and reconnects to my computer. I can't see it in "My Computer" but I know because windows makes the device connected sound and the device disconnected sound.
What next? It's back in the rice bag until I get a better idea.

Maybe battery is faulty. Does it have charging animation when you plug it to wall charger?

Bakisha said:
Maybe battery is faulty. Does it have charging animation when you plug it to wall charger?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't actually tried it in a wall charger but I have tried it with both the extended battery that was in it as well as the original OEM battery.
I'll try plugging it directly in to the wall next.
Thanks.

It's plugged in directly to the wall using the actual Sony charge/sync cable. Still nothing. No charging animation. But I do have a Red LED.

swing4thefence said:
It's plugged in directly to the wall using the actual Sony charge/sync cable. Still nothing. No charging animation. But I do have a Red LED.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now, No LED.

swing4thefence said:
It's plugged in directly to the wall using the actual Sony charge/sync cable. Still nothing. No charging animation. But I do have a Red LED.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, i tought it was battery fault, but you test it with second battery, so i don't think battery is the problem.
Power it normally with power button (and get that single vibration), then, when you connect it to PC, is it in fastboot or flashboot mode? Maybe back or search key is stuck (short-cutted, so it's like always pressed)

Bakisha said:
Actually, i tought it was battery fault, but you test it with second battery, so i don't think battery is the problem.
Power it normally with power button (and get that single vibration), then, when you connect it to PC, is it in fastboot or flashboot mode? Maybe back or search key is stuck (short-cutted, so it's like always pressed)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that:
"Device Connected with USB debugging off"
"For 2011 devices line, be sure you are not in MTP mode."

swing4thefence said:
Tried that:
"Device Connected with USB debugging off"
"For 2011 devices line, be sure you are not in MTP mode."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That message is just because you flashed stock firmware. But it means it start to boot normally.
Unless you know how to open phone and clean it inside, it's maybe better to go service. Good news is that is working (partially) and maybe only flex cable is damaged/short-cutted

I would highly recommend to take apart the phone have all the pieces in a bag of rice for 24 hours.... let it absorb all the junk, or at the least take it apart and use aclohol pads to clean it all up... then let it sit and air out for a while, the reassemble... retest.

Maybe try taking it apart and look for something that might be damaged
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Take Apart Repair Guide
Re-House Your Xperia Play : Things to Know
Update: sorry ozzmanj1 didn't see your post

I am having a similar problem
On Wednesday, instead of making chicken I was helping a friend move on a nice, hot day. I was sweating like a filthy pig and my phone was in my pocket and would not turn on when I tried to do so. That night I really didn't know what was wrong and the next morning I tried to turn it on and the red LED would flash 3 times in succession. I looked this up and they said "dead battery." Sure enough, I charged it and it took a minute for the LED to turn on, and as it charged it was red, then orange, then green. But even once fully charged, when I tried to turn it on it would only vibrate, but no screen action whatsoever. Note: the battery was at around 60% when the phone quit responding. The next morning it was dead. I have had the phone for a year now and the battery will last me at least 2 days if I don't play games and such.
The next morning, when using the flashtool it would go into blue LED'd fastboot and green LED'd flash mode. I flashed the original 2.3.3 firmware and still nothing. I used PC Companion and it said "Problem: The phone/tablet contains modified software that cannot be updated. Details: Sony Update Engine failure (error 2003)." I contacted Sony and I am still awaiting a response. So, on friday I'm ready to take this turd into the Verizon shop and I turn it on and wait about 30 seconds and I get the SE logo. It loads just fine. I set it up and try to update, but it won't allow me. I'm thinking, great, I'm stuck with 2.3.3... until I turn the screen off and try to turn it back on. And again, nothing. No response. So I'm thinking I will bring it in Saturday. I re-lock the bootloader in some attempt to hide that I rooted the phone, and flashed the 2.3.3 again. Note: I rooted my phone in December and have had no problems. I didn't flash any ROMs or Kernels. I am a simple man.
Saturday morning, after my phone has been off for 10 hours, it turns back on again. Same thing happens. Also, I spent a while on Thursday, Friday, and today trying to research and solve this problem. My brain hurts. But alas, I only had it off for 3 hours and it turned back on, and it did the same damned thing when it turned off. It simply doesn't turn back on. I don't know if it's the screen, or if there is moisture under there, and I haven't researched taking it apart yet. Any advice? Sorry if I'm butting in on your post, but your problem is so close to mine aside from my phone actually coming back to life, partially.
-Ryan-

Streiff353 said:
On Wednesday, instead of making chicken I was helping a friend move on a nice, hot day. I was sweating like a filthy pig and my phone was in my pocket and would not turn on when I tried to do so. That night I really didn't know what was wrong and the next morning I tried to turn it on and the red LED would flash 3 times in succession. I looked this up and they said "dead battery." Sure enough, I charged it and it took a minute for the LED to turn on, and as it charged it was red, then orange, then green. But even once fully charged, when I tried to turn it on it would only vibrate, but no screen action whatsoever. Note: the battery was at around 60% when the phone quit responding. The next morning it was dead. I have had the phone for a year now and the battery will last me at least 2 days if I don't play games and such.
The next morning, when using the flashtool it would go into blue LED'd fastboot and green LED'd flash mode. I flashed the original 2.3.3 firmware and still nothing. I used PC Companion and it said "Problem: The phone/tablet contains modified software that cannot be updated. Details: Sony Update Engine failure (error 2003)." I contacted Sony and I am still awaiting a response. So, on friday I'm ready to take this turd into the Verizon shop and I turn it on and wait about 30 seconds and I get the SE logo. It loads just fine. I set it up and try to update, but it won't allow me. I'm thinking, great, I'm stuck with 2.3.3... until I turn the screen off and try to turn it back on. And again, nothing. No response. So I'm thinking I will bring it in Saturday. I re-lock the bootloader in some attempt to hide that I rooted the phone, and flashed the 2.3.3 again. Note: I rooted my phone in December and have had no problems. I didn't flash any ROMs or Kernels. I am a simple man.
Saturday morning, after my phone has been off for 10 hours, it turns back on again. Same thing happens. Also, I spent a while on Thursday, Friday, and today trying to research and solve this problem. My brain hurts. But alas, I only had it off for 3 hours and it turned back on, and it did the same damned thing when it turned off. It simply doesn't turn back on. I don't know if it's the screen, or if there is moisture under there, and I haven't researched taking it apart yet. Any advice? Sorry if I'm butting in on your post, but your problem is so close to mine aside from my phone actually coming back to life, partially.
-Ryan-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ryan I think you're as screwed as I am. Still I wouldn't expect your phone to be ruined by Butt Sweat. Yeah, putting your phone in your hip pocket to help someone move is a bad idea but I would expect Mechanical damage, not moisture damage.
At this point I'm thinking of just putting it up on Ebay as As is/For parts to see what I can get out of it. It's painful to think of giving up my sweet playstation phone but looking at it logically, in the year that I had it I only used the playstation controller 4 times.
The question I have is how to be sure that all of my personal data is off the phone since I can't boot it to verify.

swing4thefence said:
The question I have is how to be sure that all of my personal data is off the phone since I can't boot it to verify.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you manage to flash stock firmware, all data is erased. Erase sd card on pc with some adaper, if you want to sell that sd card along your parts

swing4thefence said:
Butt Sweat
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I figured it was mechanical, but I have a heavy duty trident case and I'm only assuming it was the butt sweat. This morning I tried to turn it on and nothing happened, so I said screw it and brought it back to Verizon. My main fear of bringing it back was them seeing that it was rooted and not being able to swap it out. But alas, the guy behind the desk just processed it, dropped my phone on the floor, hahaha, then set it up for me to get a replacement. It is under a year that I have had it, and I'm only paying for expedited shipping. I wish you the best of luck.

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!
You need to open it and replace ribbon connecting dispay with board.
I fallen with my phone to river (look for my posts she is alive after swimming), I removed battery on site by stripped down after back home. For me that ribbon started falling appart. I had same symptoms, pushed power button and feeling vibration, sometimeswhen reconnected I had whole white screen.
Bought that ribbon on e-bay, replaced and all working fine.
Good luck!!!
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app

[Q] My Xperia S wont start, no led, no vibration, wont charge.

Hello everyone,
So my friend borrowed my phone to take a selfie and returned it shortly afterwards(im giving this info because i cant say if it shut down while my friend was using it or while it was in ny pocket). I just put it in my pocket and after about 20 minutes i wanted to see the time and it wouldnt turn on.
I tried pressing only the power button and nothing, i tried power + vol+ it didnt work, waited to get home to recharge, put it on my charger and no led no nothing.
I am just wondering what could be the problem and is there a way to fix it? Is it the battery? Im asking to see if it is worth to spend money to repair it as i bought a new phone.
Also the water damage indicator on the back is pink but i have never exposed it to water. (That has been pink for over a month before it died).

semirr said:
Hello everyone,
So my friend borrowed my phone to take a selfie and returned it shortly afterwards(im giving this info because i cant say if it shut down while my friend was using it or while it was in ny pocket). I just put it in my pocket and after about 20 minutes i wanted to see the time and it wouldnt turn on.
I tried pressing only the power button and nothing, i tried power + vol+ it didnt work, waited to get home to recharge, put it on my charger and no led no nothing.
I am just wondering what could be the problem and is there a way to fix it? Is it the battery? Im asking to see if it is worth to spend money to repair it as i bought a new phone.
Also the water damage indicator on the back is pink but i have never exposed it to water. (That has been pink for over a month before it died).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try to flash a stock rom via flashtool

maddboss said:
try to flash a stock rom via flashtool
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply I understand everything i have to do. Its just that this is my first time dealing with a hard brick and didnt know whether i could fix this myself or i should take it to repairs.
I have tried this method about a week ago and the led wouldnt glow and the phone wouldnt turn on. I have read now that i should charge it for 16+ hours and then try again.(first red LED then try)
Currently my laptop is in repairs, as soon as i get it back ill try the charging for 16+h method and the rubber band method.
I have root and unlocked bootloader so i dont have anything to worry about right?

I have been charging it for 44 hours and still no red LED. its still charging...

semirr said:
I have been charging it for 44 hours and still no red LED. its still charging...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We you able to fix it?

Daughters phone is completely dead, will not switch on. Please help

I have had it plugged in all night, and tried the following ;
Hold power for 1 minute
Hold power and volume up for one minute
Hold power and volume down for one minute
Hold all 3 buttons for one minute
None of these worked.
I have plugged it into a PC but there is no connection.
Is there anything else I can do?
*EDIT* Fixed it! https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=83649851&postcount=7

Its dead phone. What do you want some magic to turn it on? If it dosnt want to turn it on its dead phone and you cant do anything about it.

You might be right, but in the 20 years of owning mobile phones I have never had one that simply "died" before. I've ordered a new charge port as I think it might be to blame.

TylerDurdenK said:
You might be right, but in the 20 years of owning mobile phones I have never had one that simply "died" before. I've ordered a new charge port as I think it might be to blame.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pressing pwr + volume down or volume up won't turn on device.
You're not saying if device can enter to recovery nor fastboot or If your device is unlocked or not or if you have some screen as the logo or if you have some vibration, some led blinking, or if you let it charging with screen on (it must be screen burning) or if device was off while charging...

The phone has no sign of life. No led, no screen on. Nothing.

TylerDurdenK said:
The phone has no sign of life. No led, no screen on. Nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, there is not much you can do here, it could be a damage at the hardware level, probably in the port charger or at emmc/motherboard.
Also the overcharging or the kernel panic produced for some overheating can make that device won't boot.
The only you should try at software level is this https://c.mi.com/thread-1479882-1-0.html

I fixed it! After replacing the charging port it still didn't work.
However I read somewhere that disconnecting then reconnecting the battery connector inside the phone would work so I tried that and it worked.
Phone back working fully.